Banana Bread

The times are tough people, when I'm brave enough to switch on the TV, the only thing they are reporting are bad news: the economical crisis, the debt, moody's rating, the unemployement... Or maybe I'm watching the wrong channel?

Not that I can complain too much, because I have a job and a roof over my head, but still, I do too have to be carefull. So when a big bag of overly ripes organic bananas are sold for nothing at the supermarkt, I felt like Nigella was looking over my shoulder, telling me to get those.

Yes, as said before, I'm a big fan of Nigella, I even named my kitchenaid after her. Though I've seen most of her TV series, at least the british ones, it's only last week that I finally got it in the mail: my first Nigella's Book, Nigella Kitchen.

She's a great food writer, I enjoyed the stories just as much as the recipe. She is a big advocate for not wasting food, and I can only applaud that, even if I don't have her fridge and freezer space. But I did freeze the bananas I didn't use this time around, as she advices to.

I did however choose the banana bread recipe from a different book, because I wanted it simple and had no cherries at hand, like the recipe in her book. But I will try it some time, just to compare of course ;)

Banana Bread (Based on "How to Cook the Perfect" by Marcus Wareing)

For 1 Bread

3 Eggs
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon of Almond Extract
300gr of Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
115gr of Butter, at room temperature
100gr of Dark Demerara Sugar
4 Bananas
75gr of Walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Butter a loaf tin and put some baking paper in the bottom.

In a little jar, beat the eggs with the vanilla and almond extract.

Sieve the flour with the salt and the baking powder.

In a stand or hand mixer, at high speed, beat the butter with the sugar until it's well combined and light. Lower the speed and add the eggs mixture.

With a fork, mash the bananas until it turns into a creamy mixture. Add them to the sugar/eggs mixture with a plastic spatula, than add the flour in 3 times and finish with the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the tin and place it in the oven for 55 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes, than take it out of the tin and let it cool completly on a grid before cutting your first slice.